Apparatus for serving stranded material



Dec. 13, 1932. s. E. BORGESON 1,890,929

APPARATUS FOR SERVING STRANDED MATERIAL Filed Dec. 31, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR 27 5IDNE f BORGESON BY 6/5 ATTORNEYS Dec. 13, 1932. s, E, BORGESON 1,890,929 APPARATUS FOR SERVING STRANDED MATERIAL Filed Dec. 51, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN ENTOR SIDNE E. BORGESON BY /'5 ATTORNEY-9 Patented Dec. 13, 1932 UNITED" STATES SIDNEY E. BORGESON, F ROM-E, NEW

YORK. ASSiG-NOR TO GENERAL CABLE CORPORATION, OF YORK, N'.,Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

APPARATUS FOR- STRANDED MATERIAL Application filed DecemberSl, 1930. Serial No. 505,820. I

This invention relates .to apparatus for serving stranded material .to a core,iusually to an axially advancing core, so as to form a covering thereon, and has for an object the provision of improvements in this art.

It is an aim of the invention to increase production. by increasing the speed of the machine. Speeds upward of 20.000 R1 M. are desired. In order to attain this speed it is necessary to provide a machinewhich is superior to previous machines in balance and in the means for handling the strand from the time it is removed from the package. until it is wound upon the core.

One form of apparatus for accomplishing these objects and aims will be described by way of example, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. l is a vertical axial section;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view;

Fig. 3 is a trans-axialsection'taken onthe line 33 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is an axial section partly in elevation taken on the line 44 of Fig. 2. 0

Referring to the drawings, the core 10. either bare or with some coveringalreadyapplied. travels upward through and alongv the axis of a flyer spindle 11. The core to be. covered may be an electricalconductor, the invention having been developed in connection with the application of a spiral covering to electrical conductors. The covering may be lap wound, butt wound, or space wound, depending upon the speed of winding relative to the axial speed of the core.

The spindle supports a package retaining arbor 12 which is rotatable relative thereto, and a shell or annular wall 13. The shell confines the strand taken from the outer surface of the package and ass sts in guiding it toward the core. The shell may besecuredon the spindle by a nut 14 threaded on the spindle and. brin ing up againstthe b-ottomofthe shell, the spindle and the shell aperture embracing it being tapered or notched as desired to resist the clamping action of the nut.

The package supporting sleeve 15 is pressed w th a frictional fit by hand upon the'arbor when the package is inserted in the machine to cause it to rotate with the arbor.

The mounting for the arbor-12 on the spindle includes a lower ball bearing assembly 17 and an upper ball bearing assembly 18, there bemgafiange member '19 interposed between the upper bearing18 and the spindle. The flange member 19 is threaded onto the spindle.

Means are provided for urging the package arbor to rotate with the. spindle,though allowing constrained.rotation bet-weenthe arbor and spindle to permit a strand to be-unwound 'fronrthe package. In the present embodiment-this means takes the form of a brake including a conicalfriction-surface 21 on the interior of the arbor 12. and a corresponding friction'cone 22;

The cone 22 is normally pressed upwardly by the resilient spider23 (Fig. .3) supported on a ring 24'surroun'ding the spindle. The spider arms at their outer ends engage notches 25 inthe lower portion of the cone. The spider interiorly is provided: with one or more projection 26 slidableinia groove 27 formed'in the spindle. The grooves extend to the upper end ofthe-spindleto permitinsertion and removal of the spider.

A plurality (two as shown) of pins 30 at tached I to the cone 22' extend upwardly through'guide apertures in the flange memher-19. Referring to FigA, the upper ends of the pins 30 are beveledand are positioned where they' 'will 'beengaged by rollers31. Therollers are rotatablysupported onthe journals 32 screwed'intothe oscillatable head 33. The head is mounted to turn on the spindle by means of .a'ball bearing. assembly 34- The oscillation of thehead is limited by the stop screws 35 at either-side of the'roller.

The head also supports a pair of centrifugally balanced strand guide arms 36piv0ted upon journal pins 37 screwed into the head. Guide loops 38 at the outer ends of the arms receive the advancing strand, it beingunderstood that normally only one arm is used at at-ime.

If the strand exerts a circumferential pull on the arm 36 which' is guiding it the head 33 will be pulled around to cause the rollers 31 to ride up on the bevelled ends of the pins- 30. This presses the pins 30 and brake cone 22 down againstthe action of the resilient spider 23 thus allowing the package to slip back and let off more strand. When the pull of the strand on the arm has been relieved the rollers move down the bevelled ends of the pins to allow the brake to grip the package arbor again. At high speeds this let off and braking action occurs very rapidly so that the brake cone tends to assume a fixed position where it exerts a definite drag on the arbor, thus permitting the strand package to turn continuously without jerks.

The arms 36 are flexible and so absorb the jerks on the strand due to the irregular feed off of strand in case the package has been irregularly or eccentrically wound.

A strand laying nose 40 guides the strand upon the core. The nose may be formed integral with or be secured to a cap 41 screwed into the upper end of the spindle. The cap supports bent guide posts 42 which direct the strand toward the nose 40. The guide posts 42 produce a bend in the strand as it passes around them, thus furnishing some drag on the strand both on the guide post and on the nose 40 which tends to tighten it as it is applied to the core. One of the guide posts is for right hand rotation and the other is for left hand rotation. Both of those shown are associated with one arm but they may be assembled or adjusted for use with the other arm.

A plurality of guide straps 45 are secured to the interior surface of the shell by screws 46. The straps are inclined forwardly of the direction of rotation of the shell toward their lower ends to resist unwarranted axial movement of the loop 50 of strand material which is located (Fig. 2) between the end of the arm 36 and the point of departure of the strand from its package. The loop 50 is made relatively long by being threaded un der several of the straps 45 to keep the axial inclination of the loop (Fig. 1) relatively low even when the strand is being unwound from the lowest point on the packa e even if the package be relatively long. ne advantage of having a long free loop with a gentle inclination is that side buckling of flat strands is avoided. Another advantage is that when the loop is thrown outward against the shell wallnnder centrifugal force at high rotative speeds there will be a substantially constant length of loop in contact with the wall regardless of the point on the package from which the strand is being taken. This provides a substantially constant frictional drag of the loop along the wall resisting the rotation of the package relative to the shell.

The guide straps are removable and it will be obvious that at certain speeds or with certain materials the winding operation may be satisfactorily conducted without them. But at slow speeds the guide straps are useful for holding the strand clear of the package and conducting it on a gentle angle upward ly toward its point of application to the advancing core. lVhether the strand is dragging against the shell or against the straps it is intended that the frictional drag be kept as low as practicable.

The characteristics of the guides, including the depth of the shell wall, its spacing from the outside of the package, the location and disposition of the guide straps, and the height and location of the guide loops 38 at the ends of the arms, is such that the free strand loop is kept out of contact with the strand package after it has once been unwound therefrom, and the strand is conducted in the smoothest possible way to the core upon which it is wound. This is most important at the high speeds at which the machine runs. The inclination of the strand loops assists in reducing the variations in length of the section of the strand between the package and the end loops 38 of the arm 36. y

The preferred arrangement when the straps 45 are utilized is to have them spaced circumferentially from the ends of the guide arms 36. As shown in Fig. 2 there are four straps equally spaced about the inner circumference of the shell and the nearest is spaced f0rty-five degrees from the guide arm. The hinge connection of the guide arms permits them to be swung up whereby packages of strand material may be readily introduced and removed.

By adjusting the rods 30 up or down the braking action may be made either heavy or light and this provides that any desired winding tension may be applied to the strand at any speed at which it is wound on the core. This is one advantage of mounting the package rotatably on the spindle.

Referring to Fig. 2, both the spindle and package rotate clockwise but the package for feeding off the strand rotates counter-clockwise relative to the spindle. With this arrangement both the starting inertia and air resistance on the package serve to decrease the tension on the strand which in turn in creases the frictional drag of the brake device to keep the package rotating and hold the tension on the strand substantially uniform. The apparatus provides for reversing the direction of feed off of the strand to cause the package to rotate clockwise relative to the spindle in which case the forces of inertia and air resistance will increase the tension on the strand and diminish the drag of the brake device. OI -311d perhaps more usually-the spindle rotation may be reversed to wind the strand on the core in the other direction. In each case proper adjustment of parts to suit the changed operating conditions will be made.

While one embodiment of the invention has been described at length in order to illustrate the principles of the invention, it is to be understood that the invention may be variously embodied and modified within the scope of the subj oined claims.

What I claim is:

1. Apparatus for serving a strand to a core, comprising in combination, a rotatable hollow spindle receiving the core, a package supporting arbor rotatably mounted on said spindle, means for exerting a drag on the package arbor resisting its rotation relative to the spindle, and means responsive to the tension on said strand for regulating the action of said drag means on said arbor, said drag means including afriction brake and said regulating means including a hub member oscillatable with respect to said spindle and arms hinged at their inner ends to said hub member to swing upward to permit the introduction and removal of strand packages thereover.

2. Apparatus for winding a strand upon a core, comprising in combination, a rotatable spindle, a package supporting arbor rotatably supported thereon, a friction brake influencing said arbor to rotate with said spindle, a spring urging said brake into action, and means urging said brake out of action, comprising a movable member provided with a cam portion acting upon a movable brake part, a head oscillatable relative to said member, a roller on said head cooperating with the cam portion of said member to actuate said movable brake part, and an arm attached to said head for oscillating the same in accordance with tension exerted upon a strand being unwound from the package carried upon said core.

3. Apparatus for winding a strand upon a core, comprising in combination, a rotatable spindle, a package supporting arbor rotatably supported thereon, a spring spider splined on said spindle, a brake cone connected to said spider so as to be driven by said spindle, a brake surface on saidarbor cooperable with said brake cone, an axially slidable rod attached to said con-e, an oscillatable head mounted on said spindle, means carried by said head for imparting axial movement to said rod and cone against the action of said spring spider, and means for oscillating said head in accordance with tension exerted upon a strand being wound from the package carried upon said core.

4. Apparatus for winding a strand upon a core comprising in combination, a rotatable package supporting arbor, a head oscillatably supported at one end of the package, a guide arm mounted on said head for guiding a strand unwound from the outer side of said 5 package, the strand being turned from a circumferential direction to a radial direction at the outer end of said arm which is disposed beyond said package, and means acting on said arbor to regulate its rotation by tension on the strand guided on said arm.

5; Let-ofi apparatus for a strand package, comprising in combination, a rotatablespim dle,a package rotatable-therewith and ro tatable thereon, amember' oscillatable thereon, means constraining-saidpackage to rotate with saidspindle, and meansactuated by said oscillatable member for relieving the turning constraint uponsaid package.

6. Apparatus as set forth in claim 5 in which said constraining means is a friction brake and said constraint-relieving means includes a member moved axially by the circumferential movement of said oscillatable member.

7. Apparatus for winding a'strand upon a core comprising in combination, a strand package rotatable about its axis, a shell for confining a loop of strand taken from said package, and means, to guide the strand loop outwardly away from the package and upwardly to clear the top of the package as it returns inwardly, said guide means including loops on said shell inclined forwardly at their ufiappr ends in the direction of rotation of said s e 8. Apparatus for serving a strand to a core, comprising in combination, a rotatable hollow spindle confining a core, a strand package rotatable on said spindle, a nose rotatable with said spindle for laying said strand on said core, and guide members disposed at an angle circumferentially from the position on said nose from which the strand departs to the core whereby an angular bend is placed in said strand to tighten it upon the core, said members being oppositely disposed for winding the strand in either direction whereby the inertia and air resistance forces may be employed either to assist or retard rotation of the package on said spindle.

9. Apparatus for serving a strand to a core, comprising in combination, a rotatable 1101- low spindle receiving the core, a package supporting arbor rotatably mounted on said spindle, means for exerting a drag on the package arbor resisting its rotation relative to the spindle, and means responsive to the tension on said strand for regulating the action of said drag means on said arbor, said drag means including a friction brake and said regulating means including a strand guide arm hinged at its inner end to swing upward to permit the introduction and removal of strand packages thereover.

10. Let-off apparatus for a strand package, comprising in combination, a rotatable spin- .dle, a package rotatable therewith and rotat- I able thereon, a member disposed at a distance from the axis of said spindle for guiding the strand from the package outward and returning it toward the axis of said spindle, an oscillatable member mounted to rotate with the spindle and over which the strand )asses means constrainin said acka e to l a rotate with said spindle, and means actuated by said oscillatable member for relieving the turning constraint upon said package in accordance with the tension upon said strand.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification this 29th day of December, 1930.

SIDNEY E. BORGESON. 

